


When Derek Smiles

by Kyss_31



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Derek loves Spencer, Fluff, Love, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Moreid, Past Relationship(s), Silly Fluff Piece, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-02 10:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5244302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyss_31/pseuds/Kyss_31
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a tough case, the team heads out for a few drinks on the town and Derek runs into a former hook-up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Derek Smiles

“Okay, my pretties," Garcia said loudly, bustling into the bullpen on impossibly high heels.  Most of the team members were pulling on jackets and getting ready to head out for the night. “Who’s up for drinks? There’s this little place over by the Howard Theater that I hear has good atmosphere, and I think we can all use that right about now.” Her voice became strained and she let her sentence trail off.

They all knew what she meant. This had been a tough case - 2 kids died in their own backyard. They could all use a little unwinding time.

Rossi was the first to speak up.  “I’ve got a lovely Crianza and an even more lovely brunette waiting for me, and I don’t want either of them getting cold.”  He slid into his blazer, wished everyone a good evening, and headed for the door.

“Hotch?” Garcia asked hopefully, turning to their leader and commander.

“I’m heading home,” he said simply, “to Jack.”

Garcia immediately nodded her understanding.  Of course the man who had lead the charge in bringing down their latest unsub would want nothing more than to get home and spend time with his own son.  Three days of looking at photos of dead, young children had him itching for a hug from his little boy.

With Hotch’s state of mind in her thoughts, Garcia turned a less than enthusiastic glance to the other blonde woman of their team.  “I suppose you’re going home to Henry and Will, then?” she said to JJ.

“Actually,” JJ said, pushing herself away from her desk, “Henry is at a sleepover and Will is working late, so I’ve got a few hours.”

Garcia beamed at her dear friend and rushed over to wrap the slender woman in a warm hug.

“Yay!” Garcia said, squeezing JJ enough to make her laugh.

Spencer and Alex walked in from the breakroom, Spencer holding his 8th cup of coffee, wrapping up their discussion of the finer distinctions between Missouri French and Creole French.

“What’s going on here?” Alex asked brightly.

Derek finished making a note in the final case file on his desk and stretched as he responded.  “Baby Girl wants us to get drinks with her at DC9 - this little club not far from here.”  Derek had been the one to tell Garcia about the club, though he hadn’t been to it in quite some time.  He turned his gaze from Alex, who seemed to be giving the idea good consideration, to look at Spencer.  “It should be fun,” he said, directing his words to his boyfriend who abhorred clubs.  “Good music, open space, not too loud.”

Spencer pursed his lips and wouldn’t meet Derek’s gaze.  He knew Derek wouldn’t be suggesting it if he didn’t really want to go, and it wasn’t like Derek tried to get him to go to clubs very often.  In fact, it had been exactly 7 months and 13 days since he last suggested going to a club.  Spencer had declined that last time and the two ended up staying at Spencer’s place for the evening and having a wonderful night, just the two of them.  Shortly after that night, they’d moved in together, and staying in at night became a regular thing for them.  

After this difficult case, the only thing Spencer wanted was to go home with Derek, curl up into a tiny ball on the couch, sandwiched between the hard chest of the man he loved, and the compact, warm body of their dog, Clooney, who for some reason that was beyond Spencer, had taken to the skinny young man with a fierce passion.  But he knew that Derek often needed more stimulation to get through a difficult case.  A night out with the girls, a few drinks, and dancing to music that was a little too loud and fast for Spencer’s taste, would fix up the older agent right quick.

Spencer finally looked into the lightly pleading eyes of his lover.  It had been Derek who got to the unsub first - pulling the man away from what would have been his third victim.  Derek needed to unwind from this case more than Spencer did, so Spencer smiled at the man he loved.

“Sure,” he said softly.  “Should be fun.”

Derek’s responding smile was slow and understanding.  He knew that Spencer was doing this for his sake, and he loved him all the more for it.  He’d make it up to his pretty boy, somehow.  They were going to have tomorrow off (barring any unusual murders over the night), so he would let his baby boy sleep in and then take him out for coffee and a new book.  Thinking about the lazy Sunday they would get to spend together made Derek smile even more brightly, and Spencer couldn’t help but smile along.

Alex decided to join them at the club, and soon the five of them were piling into cars and heading uptown.  It was a boisterous Saturday evening, and the streets were packed, but the club wasn’t as full as it could have been.  A new band was playing - mostly acoustic with thoughtful lyrics that had Alex and Spencer more at ease than either had anticipated upon hearing the term “club.”  Spencer kept himself tucked closely against Derek’s side, though, shielding himself from much of the noise that came more from the patrons talking than the speakers.

The five teammates settled into a booth a little ways from the dance floor, and on the opposite wall from the bar.  They had good visibility of the entire room and could actually hear each other speaking without having to yell.  They ordered drinks, even Spencer, and fell into an easy conversation about life, family, friends - anything other than work.

When their drinks were running too low, Derek offered to pick up another round and excused himself from the table, leaving his boyfriend in the clutches of his dearest friends.  He knew that the second he was out of earshot they were going to start pestering him on how things were going with their relationship.  JJ seemed to have taken on the role of surrogate mother for Spencer, as his actual mother was still living in Las Vegas and wasn’t always lucid enough to be concerned about her only child’s happiness and well-being.  Alex, having been good friends with Spencer for years, liked to hear just how happy he had become since they first met.

Garcia, having been partially responsible for the two men finally getting together (pestering Derek into asking out the young genius because she knew better than he did just how much he actually wanted to), always wanted to get Spencer’s side of the story.  It didn’t matter how much Derek and Garcia chatted at work or on the phone about their personal lives - Garcia needed to know directly from the source that Spencer was happy and felt comfortable with this relationship.  

Of course, this was the most committed relationship Spencer had ever been in, but it was also that for Derek as well.  The two had found something with each other that neither had expected or even thought was possible, given their backgrounds and choice of career.  Perhaps it was because they shared those things that they were able to give each other what they’d never been able to give another - their hearts.

Derek glanced back at the table of his co-workers when he was about half-way across the room.  Spencer was laughing at something JJ was saying, and Derek smiled at the sight of his favorite person being happy and at ease.  He didn’t like pushing Spencer into doing things outside his comfort zone, and was pleased that the evening was going well.

He charmed his way through the crowd and up to the bar, giving the bartender his table’s order and a toothy smile.  While the man behind the counter busied himself preparing the drinks, Derek leaned against the bar and surveyed the room.  The myriad of happy voices had helped soothe the tension that had built up over the last few days.  The music was pleasant, if not quite as upbeat as he liked in this kind of setting.  But people were dancing, and the vibe that radiated through the room eased the ache that had settled around his heart when he’d looked at that first photo of a murdered child.

He breathed out the last vestiges of tension and once again found himself thinking about how he was going to spend the next day with his pretty boy, doing all the calm, relaxing things his baby boy loved.  Picturing Spencer hopped up on sugar and caffeine (in that order) and gushing over some random find from the bookstore caused the side of Derek’s lip to quirk up in a half smile.

“Why, Derek Morgan,” a voice called, snapping him out of his fantasy, “I’d recognize that smile anywhere!”

Derek tracked the voice to the woman who owned it, and startled a little as recognition dawned on him.  It was the location more than the woman herself that helped him pin down the name.

“Karen?” he said, cautiously.  He had met a woman named Karen at this club, more than two years ago, who might very well be the woman in front of him - tall, olive colored skin that could have been from a mix of races or just a really good tan, dark curls pinned back to show off her slender neck, not too many curves revealed by the chocolate blouse and cream pencil skirt that said she’d come directly from work.

The woman smiled more brightly, indicating that he had gotten the name right.

The bartender placed the first of Derek’s order beside him and the dark agent was glad to see that it was his own drink.  He took a sip of the amber liquid before looking back at the woman - Karen - who was seating herself beside him.

“Still with the F.B.I., Derek?” she said, separating the initials deliberately to draw more attention to the movements of her glossed lips.

Derek nodded, trying to decide what the best course of action would be here.  Sure, he’d run into past flings before, even since he’d started seeing Spencer, but he’d never enjoyed the experience.  He glanced across the club to see his boyfriend enthralling their co-workers with a story that had his hands moving frantically across the table-top, acting out the scene, while the three women laughed deeply.

Feeling calm once more, Derek let his eyes settle on Karen.

“Not a lot has changed about me since we last saw each other,” he said easily.  “But some things have.”  A second drink appeared at his elbow and he aligned it with his own glass, displaying the pair to his former fling.

Karen understood the significance of the action, but wasn’t deterred.

“Oh, I see,” she said, her eyes growing playful.  She ran a finger around the rim of her glass, which was already half consumed.  “Who’s the lucky lady, tonight?” she added, her eyes almost meeting Derek’s as she glanced up at him.

Derek’s lips pursed at the last word and he forcefully took control of the tick that started in his cheek at the indication that he wouldn’t be with someone for more than a night.  He shook it off and turned to face the direction of his friends, indicating them with his chin.

Karen turned to look and quickly found the table he was pointing towards as it was in a well lit part of the club.

“The pretty little blonde?” Karen asked, her tone suggesting that she was not impressed by JJ.

“Nope,” said Derek, his half smile reappearing.  “The brunet.”

“She’s a little old, don’t you think?”

“Not that brunette.  The other one.”

Derek’s smile grew as Karen clearly wasn’t getting it, and he decided to have a little fun.

“Oh, come on,” he chided, “you can’t miss my baby.  Tall, rail thin, nutty-brown curls that are softer than silk and smell sweeter than honey, caramel-colored eyes you can get lost in for days.”

Karen had begun checking the other tables around the team of profilers.  Her brow furrowed and she began to wonder if Derek was trying to trick her.

Derek chuckled a little and shook his head.  “His name is Spencer,” he said, leaning towards her so she wouldn’t misunderstand.  “Dr. Spencer Reid, and we’ve been together for a little over a year.”  He could see the moment her eyes landed on his boyfriend and comprehension dawned.

Karen blinked and cocked her head, extending her pretty neck.  “Him?” she said, confusion dripping from the single syllable.  “Really?”

It would never cease to amaze Derek how often people overlooked his beyond incredible boyfriend.  They had no idea how endearing his awkwardness could be, like when he attempted to make Derek’s Mama’s famous meatloaf and ended up burning the thing to a crisp because he got caught up reading the cookbooks she had recommended to him.  People had no concept of how intriguing his stories really were - sure it took a while for him to get to the point, but the fact that he knows every detail so intricately meant hours of entertainment, no matter what the subject.  

And strangers certainly had no idea just how sexy Spencer really was.  He kept his wiry muscles and pale skin hidden under layers of ill-fitting clothes with boring or nerdy prints.  But Derek knew exactly what was under each layer.  He knew exactly how Spencer’s pale skin looked when it was flushed and coated in sweat.  He knew how Spencer’s muscles strained when he was panting for breath, arching into the sensations that Derek created while pulling away to keep it from ending too soon.  Only Derek got to see that side of him, and it made the older man fiercely possessive of his lithe lover.  Only Derek was allowed to see that side of Spencer, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it stayed that way.

More than a hint of his passionate, protective love for his boyfriend could be heard in his response.  “Really,” he gruffed out.  “He’s my boyfriend.”

Karen leaned away from Derek to take him all in. “You can’t be serious,” she said, any trace of teasing gone from her voice. “You're dating a -” she looked around as if checking for eavesdroppers, leaned in, lowered her voice and said “- guy?”

Derek blinked.   _That’s what she got stuck on?_ he thought.  He chuckled a little and took another sip of his drink.  “Sorry if that comes as a surprise, but I guess I didn't really think it was necessary to give you the full disclosure of my sexual preferences when last we met.”  He let out a little laugh at the idea of how it would sound and decided to try it out.  He tipped his glass towards hers and said, “Hi, I’m Derek Morgan. I’m a profiler with the FBI, I have a dog, and I’m bisexual. Care to dance?” He flashed her one of his panty-dropping smiles.  “Would that have worked 2 years ago?”

She flushed, just like she had 2 years prior. “I don't know,” she said slowly. “It might have worked.”

Derek shook his head and chuckled some more. “Guess I’ll never get to find out...now that I’m off the market and all.” He turned away from his conversation companion to look at the love of his life and found that Spencer was already looking at him. A quizzical frown was nestled in the brow of the young genius and Derek could almost hear him asking what the two were talking about that had Derek pulling out his best flirty grin.

Derek smiled at his pretty boy - not the heart stopping, winning smile he had used to fluster the woman beside him, but a softer, sweeter, private kind of smile - a smile that Spencer was used to seeing when it was just the two of them, whether at home or on a date, in a moment when they were exceptionally close, emotionally.

As Spencer saw the smile he knew was only for him, he felt the room between them disappear.  All the people in the club disappeared - their friends and the strangers alike. It was only the two of them, and everything was perfect.

Spencer and Derek both lost track of how long they stared at each other from across the room, but Spencer found himself being snapped out of the moment by JJ physically turning his head back to her. Seeing Spencer return to his conversation reminded Derek that he’d been speaking with someone as well. He looked back at the bar to see that the woman he’d been speaking with was picking up a fresh drink and rising from her stool.

“Going somewhere?” he mused.

“Well,” Karen said, a hint of formality in her voice, “you seem to be a little preoccupied, so I think I’ll see if I can find someone who's not ridiculously in love to buy me a drink.” She gave him a tight lipped smile and quickly vanished into the throng of people milling along the edges of the dance floor. Derek chuckled again, picked up the collection of drinks he’d ordered and headed back across the club, wanting nothing more than to feel his pretty boy pressed against his side for the rest of the night - and for the rest of their lives.

 


End file.
